Somewhere Out There
by RubiTues108
Summary: In AC 197 Duo Maxwell suddenly dissapeared. Now, a year after, his most dedicated searcher happens upon a major break through from a song. Will Duo "Befound"?
1. Last Time I Talked to You

~After Colony 198-Japan~

            It was a drizzly afternoon in an average prefecture of Japan's urban metropolis. In a small studio apartment that overlooked the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Bay, the only sound that could be heard was the typed clicks of keys. A young man who in his 18 years of life had seen more violence, destruction, and death than many people could see in three lifetimes, sat in front of a well worn, beat up laptop.

~Last time I talked to you, you were lonely and out of place 

_You were looking down on me, lost out in space.~_

            Heero Yuy had not seen any of the other former pilots in person since after the Marimea incident almost two years ago. Contact was not all together lost though; weekly vid-calls with Quatre kept him up to date on the daily life and the financial and political goings on in Winner Enterprises, letters from Trowa appeared in his post office box with return addresses from all corners of the colonies retelling the life of a circus performer, and e-mails from Wufei reported on the events of Preventors' HQ. And then there was, or rather wasn't Duo. No one had heard from Duo in over a year; one day in June of AC 197 he left the scrap yard he and Hilde had been running on L2 and vanished into seemingly thin air. Not even Heero Yuy, the perfect soldier, could find him; though Heero himself would never admit he even tried. 

            Noin and Zechs were hard at work with Sally and Wufei on the newest, and most challenging to date, Preventors' project. They had offered Heero a position many times and each time he had turned them down. He had done his time, now he wanted to figure out what _he _wanted out of life. After the war it seemed the most likely thing would be to stay with Relena, but in the end he knew it wouldn't work. During one of her many speeches, he left and had not heard from her aside from the fancifully ornate wedding invitation that had come care of Quatre. He had opted out and heard all the juicy details from the magazines and Quatre in the days following the biggest wedding of the century. She had married a man she met shortly after Heero had left and they were engaged within a month. Heero was just glad it wasn't him next to her in that gaudy pink-laced dress.

            A beep and flashing envelope on the bottom right of his screen alerted him to an incoming message. He saved his work and went into his e-mail inbox. There was no subject, just a jumble of letter that made up what appeared to be a return address. Heero's heart skipped a beat. He had a secure account and he knew everyone who had his e-mail address, and this address was _not_ in his address book.

            'Could it be?' his heart raced at the thought, 'How would he have got it though? Why now?'  Millions of questions raced through his head as he opened the message. 

_Dear friends and family,_

_            You are cordially invited to attend the 14th birthday party of Marimea Kush-Renada, on Saturday April 12 A.C. 199.  It will be held in Santa Monica, California of the United States. _

            The letter went on but Heero had had enough. He would hear about it from Quatre anyway so why bother reading it? He checked the clock and was surprised to find it was 4:00 in the afternoon. He had a language arts class at 4:30 so he thought he had better get his things together and leave.

            He shut down his laptop and collected his bag. After locking his apartment door, he descended the stairs to the main lobby and the streets of the city. The rain seemed to be blowing by and now the air was cold and biting. '_65% saturation level, wind coming from the Southeast, clear skies tonight in the late evening_,' he thought in his head as he walked down the street to his class.

            All of the pilots had their personal troubles with fitting into a society they knew nothing of. But each of them had found a place they could call home during the war; these places of comfort were there for them when the war was over. For Heero, the home he had found wasn't a place, it was a job where he was needed. Relena requested his services as a bodyguard, but she expected more from him than was in his contract. Heero tried his best to let her know he had no feelings for her, but still she persisted. Either she was as dense as her blonde hair and pink Barbie mobile made her out to be, or she had a big enough ego to think that she could make anyone worship her.

            So on that faithful day six months after the Marimea incident, Heero left Relena with his jacket on his shoulder and utter silence as an explanation. With his "home" left behind, Heero had to make it on his own in a world he knew nothing of. "_Mission Accepted_."


	2. Laid Underneath the Stars, Strung Out an...

Woops! I forgot to do this last time! Heheh, well you can't be too mean since it was my first ever posting! Sniff, I can't believe that it's become a reality after all these months of writing. 

Thanks to these three people, my first reviewers!:

Super Poodle~ Hmmm, I'm taking that death threat as you way of saying "Hurry up and write more cause I'm really loving it!" feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The funny part is that I just read your fic Mystic Models and am completely loving it.*^_~*

ShadowedSoul~Yay! I have talent!! You don't know how much your comment boosted my confidence! Thanks SO Much!! And no, you won't have to wait till 37. I have the first 4 parts of this fic written but I'm sorry to say there isn't much 1x2 action. ;_; I promise not to let ya down though!!

Shadowfax~ Course I'll write more!! Glad you like my sorry-ass excuse for a beginning, I didn't do very good with the chapter breakups at first.-_-

So anyway, I don't own Gundam Wing or it's respective characters, nor do I own "Somewhere Out There" which is a super-awesome-converse-rockin' song by Our Lady Peace! Oh and all those other songs I took lyrics from, don't own them either. Well without further ado, Part 2!!

__________________________________________________________________________

/~_*_~\

            Walking back in artificial light created by towering skyscrapers, Heero hunched further into the warmth of his jacket and tightened his scarf. It was early December and according to the weather reports it could snow at any time. He passed by people holding packages and bags, schoolgirls in their winter uniforms with pastel cell phones plastered to their ears and businessmen on their way home from pushing papers all day. As he neared his apartment building, the cobalt-eyed youth thought of his newest writing assignment; "A person you wish you could have saved."

            His teacher was a woman who just passed midlife, but not someone you would call old. She wore brightly colored skirts from India and kept her white hair pulled back in a loose braid. She had no prejudices and respected anyone's principles as long as they could stand up for them. The only thing she expected was for her students to write with their souls. For Heero Yuy, this was like expecting him to fight off a fleet of mobile suits armed only with a pistol. The first assignment given was for each student to write about their pasts, all of the students pulled notepads out and started jotting down ideas and phrases. Heero Yuy sat upright in his chair with his hands folded and not moving. As his teacher passed by his desk she said in something close to a whisper, "See me after class and we'll discuss the matter."

            It was she who opened him up eventually. She told him that on paper he wouldn't be judged, and that the only possibility was success. But when it came time to hand in the assignments, Heero handed in a mission report. It wasn't until the third assignment that he began to open up in his writing; and in his emotions. 

~Laid underneath the stars, strung out and feeling brave.  
Watch the riddles glow, watch them float away.~  
  


That night in June had changed everything for him; the one-year anniversary of the last time he had talked to Duo. It was a clear night and the heat was almost unbearable.  He had gone out to lie on his balcony in hopes he could get some sleep out in the open air. Pillow under head and looking up at the sky, he thought of the person he was during the war compared to the person he was now. During the war he adapted to any mission parameters; he thought only of the mission. But now that he had no more missions to carry out, was it the soldier in him that decided to let his true self take on the problem of adapting to a domesticated lifestyle? He wasn't sure if he knew the answer, but he hoped that it wasn't just another adaptation made to carry out the mission; he wanted it to be his true self. 

            His thoughts wandered and soon he was thinking about Duo and how they had shared so much during the war. Duo may have been a prankster, but he was a hell of a good pilot. The maniacal laugh that rang through the com-link during battles wasn't as intimidating as the serious tone that lay just under the surface of his violet orbs. A scary Duo Maxwell was a serious one. The more Heero allowed himself to think about Duo, the more he realized how much he missed his braided comrade.  After Duo went missing in June of the previous year, Heero had spent a full week searching for any traces of him. His efforts came to no avail, but he continued the search on and off in the following months, and by December of that year he had stopped all together. 

            Duo Maxwell was a jokester, but he was even better at thinking up riddles and cryptic messages. Heero had never had time to think about Duo's metaphors during the war or for months afterwards. Or maybe it was that he didn't want to think about them because he had been programmed to think that anything not directly linked to the mission didn't deserve his time. But now on this June night, with no mission holding his life in its cold gundanium grip, Heero pondered the riddle Duo had told him in their last conversation a year ago.

/~_*_~\

            It wasn't a riddle at all really, but since Heero was only able to interpret straightforward conversation at that point, Duo may as well have been speaking in an ancient language that had died out with its people centuries ago. And that may have been the reason Duo had spoken the way he had. Maybe he didn't really want Heero to understand what he was saying just yet, but the simple act of getting everything out in the open helped unburden his conscience.

            Heero Yuy was stoically typing at his laptop when an incoming com-link popped up on his screen. Duo Maxwell's smiling face greeted the Wing Gundam pilot as he bid the Deathsythe pilot hello. 

            "Hey Heero old pal! Haven't seen ya in a while but I thought I'd call ya so ya wouldn't worry too much about me."

            "Why would I worry about you? You are perfectly capable of living with out my constant supervision," Heero's monotone reply conveyed that he was not in the mood for chit chat so Duo Maxwell had better have a good reason for calling him up at noon on a Monday in June. 

            "Well," Duo shrugged, "you might worry about me in the future. So I'm giving you a call to say tell you not to if you ever do."

            "Hn,"

            "I see you haven't developed your vocabulary any further from our time during the war," Duo chuckled and leaned back into the chair he was sitting in. They sat for a few minutes in silence. Duo seemed to be contemplating something peacefully with his head thrown back against the backrest of his office chair. This only aggravated Heero further until he couldn't take it anymore and pulled Duo out of his reverie with a growl.

            "Oh sorry about that," Duo sat up in his chair, but his usual grin had mellowed into a neutral expression. 

            "Duo, what is it that you want?" Heero was moving beyond aggravation to almost anger. If Duo thought that he had time to waste sitting here while the braided-baka daydreamed then maybe someone should start to worry about Duo's lifespan. 

            "I have something very important I need to tell you before something big happens to us. I've carried this with me since during the war, but I never said anything about it until now because it never seemed to have any value. Now that I'm faced with a big change, I feel I need to unburden myself of it before this chance slips away into oblivion," Duo closed his eyes and sighed heavily. When his eyes lifted, a great sorrow and seriousness played in the depths of violet. Heero noticed this change and tensed. He listened fully to what Duo said next, though he hadn't the faintest idea why it was so important. 

            "I realize now how horrific the war actually was. During all those missions, all those brushes with death, I treated it as a game. Because of that I fear that the war will haunt me even more now then it did during those sleepless nights where the screams of agony chimed through my head. It was a child's game to me, and for that I am sorry Heero. You understood the war fully, you always remembered the reason we fought was for the colonies, and not for the petty revenge I felt compelled to enact," Duo pleaded to Heero with his eyes, he needed to know that the Wing pilot understood that he was admitting his weakness to him. Heero gave a curt nod and Duo continued.

            "The war will hold tender memories for me also though. The shards of a normal life I caught in the many boarding schools where we stayed, in a short game of basketball here and there, and even in sipping tea in one of Quatre's mansions. I will try to think of those times with you and the other pilots with out the stain of blood I now associate with the war. Heero," Duo paused and took in a deep breath, "I will remember you the best and most fondly I think," Duo smiled slightly "If I'm feeling down, I'll think about how we had to spend all those nights in those awful dorm rooms and laugh. I'll think of your determination when I feel that I can't go any further," Duo paused and suddenly look uncomfortable, "So basically, I'll think of you."

            Heero Yuy had no idea what to say. He had no idea why any of this was so earth shattering that Duo had to spout it off as if he was on his deathbed. And then again there was an almost insignificant part of him that felt a pang of gratitude to know that Duo Maxwell regarded him so highly. He simply scowled at Duo through the com-link and said nothing. Duo sighed at his reaction and smiled his cheesiest grin,

            "Well Heero it's been nice talking to ya. Just remember that I said not to worry about me alright?" With a wave he severed the com-link. If Heero Yuy had known that he wouldn't hear from Duo Maxwell again he might have listened to that insignificant part of himself a bit more.

/~_*_~\

            Heero Yuy laid on his balcony and looked up at the night sky. His green tank top was battered and thread worn, but he only wore it on warm nights like this. He thought of his last conversation with Duo and now regretted every word he had said. That insignificant part had grown since then and now was a full-fledged influence in the mind of Heero Yuy. He now lived with compassion and emotion, but still they were in check and not at all flamboyant. He was close to being a normal person, a recluse none the same, but a normal one. 

            Heero hadn't thought of that conversation again till this night. He felt at ease with his emotions now and thought that he might be able to uncover the message behind Duo's unburdening to him. Heero lay with his eyes closed and head resting on his arms as he let the remembered words slip through his mind. With a jolt he sat up; he understood what Duo was trying to tell him. And remembering his own actions made him feel even more like an ass. Duo had been planning on leaving it seemed. How long he had been making plans for his exit from society was anyone's guess, but the plans were most likely detailed to the last stitch. Duo had wanted to tell Heero before he left. He knew that Heero wouldn't understand, but he had the faintest hope that he would. Duo Maxwell had told Heero that he cared for him in order to take care of any loose threads. Heero Yuy had not understood and didn't even give Duo the satisfaction of being rejected; he left him unknowing and hurting. But the more Heero thought about it, the more he realized that if he had understood what Duo was telling him, he wouldn't have rejected the baka at all. Somewhere along the way, the violet-eyed Shinigami had made his way into Heero's gundanium heart. 

            Heero's search was picked up anew with even more vigor than his first. Now it wasn't his duty to find Duo, it was a need that he had to fulfill.  But unfortunately, 68 hours of lost sleep, 20 pots of coffee and $500 worth of Internet usage later, Heero came out where he started, if not on the negative side. 

/~_*_~\

            He entered through the glass doors of his apartment building and into the marble tiled foyer. It was an upscale complex where the majority of the occupants were doctors or well-known artists. Many residents wondered how it was that an 18-year-old boy was able to afford the high rate rent, but many shrugged it off as he continued to live in the building. If any had inquired of the ex-pilot how he managed to afford classes, food and rent on the measly amount he made from computer programming, he probably would have told them he managed and it wasn't there business. 

            OZ generals were paid well. Many of them had special OZ bank accounts where their hefty paychecks were deposited. With every base destroyed during the war, generals and officers were killed. Heero Yuy used his hacking skills to transfer money from all the executed men's accounts into his own secure one. He also had made a princely sum of money during the six months he had worked for Relena. Being as delusional as she was, she had offered to pay him 7 times the regular wage of bodyguards because she figured that once Heero married her, the money would go back to her anyway. But she couldn't back out of the deal even when he did leave, because unlike Heero having to worship her, the salary she set was in his contract.  

            Heero unlocked the door to his dark and empty apartment. The silence felt even more weighted tonight. Maybe it was because he had been thinking of Duo so much that day. Whenever Duo was around there never seemed to be silence. Though he had hated it at the time, Heero found himself longing for that incessant chatter and constant noise. 

            Duo would play loud angry music before every mission. He said it helped him get pumped up and kick-started his adrenaline. Heero had just glared at him and told him it was a waste of energy and that if he would perform poorly during the mission if he put too much into his head banging. Duo would grin and turn up the volume of his stereo another three notches. 

            Heero missed that music; he spent hours in record stores looking for it, but since he knew nothing about it, not even a line or two from any of the songs it was near impossible for him to ever find it again. But every time he went into a record store he always bought something. There was always a cover that caught his eye, something that Duo had listened to three years ago. At the present time his collection consisted of 30 rock albums. Even though he never found Duo's favorite album, it comforted Heero in a way knowing he was listening to Duo's music, almost as if it was Duo himself.

            Heero flipped on the light switch and toed off his shoes. His white socked-feet padded across the hardwood floor of his apartment to his stereo. With the press of a button the silence was broken. If he closed his eyes, Heero could almost feel like he was lying in a dorm room with Duo. 

Duo. Why had he thought of him so much that day? He didn't usually, only occasionally when he would be reminded of him. Heero felt a pang in his chest thinking about how long it had been since he had seen Duo last. Where had he gone?

~Down here in the atmosphere, garbage and city lights,  
You gotta save your tired soul, you gotta save our lives.~

Heero looked out the glass French doors that opened to his balcony. The city was the same as the colonies, dirty and full of people. Sometimes he wished that he could escape it, but where could he go? Maybe that was why Duo left, maybe he had found somewhere he could escape to. So much had rested on them during the war, every living person had them to thank for the peace they were living in presently. The fate of the world is a heavy burden on a 15 year-old's shoulders. Maybe he needed to get away from it all.

Duo had told him once that when you listen to the right music with your eyes closed, you feel like your somewhere entirely different, like taking a three and a half minute vacation. Heero understood this now. But this time Duo needed more than three minutes of vacation. Then a thought struck him; what if Duo's music vacations were connected to the real escape Duo dreamed of? He ran to his CD rack and began looking at backs.

Many of the songs were about leaving your stressful life behind for a simple life of surf and sun. Then there were the anthems of teen angst in which the song focused on not living the dead end life of a nine-to-five. Heero drew the conclusion that Duo wanted to live by the ocean in the shade of a palm tree. There were endless stretches of beach all over the world, how could he ever hope to find Duo? Searching the lyrics for an answer Heero found one of interest. "The beaches San Diego", San Diego, that was in California. Heero was closer than he had ever been.   

~Turn on the radio, to find you on satellite,

I'm waiting for the sky to fall, I'm waiting for a sign.~

            He had to think of a course of action to take. While booting up his laptop, Heero's mind raced through different ways to find Duo. San Diego was a large city, and the chance that Duo was listed anywhere, or had even kept the name Maxwell was slim. Shinigami couldn't be found if he didn't want to be found. No, this was not going to be an easy look him up in the phone book ordeal, Heero would have to find Duo by unconventional means. 

            Well if Duo's music had got him this far, maybe it would continue to lead the way to the hidden violet-eyed pilot. Opening a search engine, Heero's fingers raced over the keyboard 'San Diego radio stations' He hit enter and the screen loaded in his results. Heero went through the list, checking out play lists for each station, contest winners, anything that might help. 

Three hours later and result number #34, Heero was becoming discouraged.

 "One more page," He whispered to the still air.

A click on the next result and the screen went black. Then icons began to load in, e-mail the djs, play lists, upcoming shows and contests, and others. Heero scrolled down through the main page and then something caught his eye, "Streaming Live, World Wide" Heero clicked on the icon, "Why not?" he asked himself. A jukebox popped up and green letters spelled LOADING across the front of it. And then there was noise. 

            "Hey San Diego! How's this lovely December day treating everyone out there?"

The DJ sounded in English from Heero's speakers. 

            "Stainger, here, member number one of the National DJ Hall of Fame. Comin' up this hour I'll be playing some new music for you all but before that I have a special request. This one goes out to you Shinigami my man!" Heero's ears perked up, had he heard right? Then a familiar music filled the air. Heero's thoughts scrounged for the memory as he listened to the heavy bass of the song and the familiar guitar riffs. At the first of the lyrics he knew what it was. 

            "Could you be lost? Are you so free; do you long to be?"

It was the song he had been looking for, his favorite of Duo's collection. Either Heero had found Duo, or fate was trying to give him an encouraging sign. If nothing else, he would know the name of the band so he could get the CD next time he went out. 

            Heero leaned back in his chair and let the music wash over him. It gave him the chills and millions of memories of Duo flooded his head and played out before his closed eyelids. Maybe this time Fate had dealt him a winning card.

Well???? Did it suck major, or did I do kinda, sorta, okay? I hope to hear from some of you in the review thingie, but if ya don't, s'ok too. Next part will be up next week sometime, can't post it all at once ya know. Oh and any surgestions for a song I can use in the follow up fic? I have a few thoughts already but I always welcome ideas! Luvies to all!

~Kaitou Rinna-chan


	3. Your Falling back to me the star that I ...

Hey!! Sorry it's been a long time coming but things suddenly got really hectic around here. Two essays due the same day and mass amounts of tests! Argh! Plus I got my permit so I've been doing some drive time at the local park-and-ride! Hehe^_^ So anyway, I don't own any of the Gundam characters, "Somewhere Out There" by Our Lady Peace, "One More Minute" by Authority Zero, "Faithless" by Injected, the name "Stainger" is taken from a DJ off my favorite local radio station The End and 

___________________________________________________________________________

/~_*_~\

~All we are is all so far.  
You're falling back to me, the star that I can't see.  
I know you're out there, somewhere out there.~  
  


            By the next weekend, Heero had completed his "Duo's music collection" and started listening to the radio station he had found regularly. Unfortunately though there was nothing else from "Shinigami."  Evenings were spent working on his essay. The topic seemed shallow on the surface, but after going through what he had, Heero had tome full of people who he wished he could have saved: the little girl and her dog, Noventa, the hundreds upon thousands of casualties caused by the war. This one was not going to be an easy essay to write.

            Heero sat down at his laptop and opened a Word Document along with the radio broadcast. DJ Stainger was on again, the same DJ who had been on the first time he listened. 

            "Hello again! On the phone we have a very special guest, the omnipotent Shinigami!!" Heero's breathe caught in his throat. He knew he couldn't get his hopes up, it could be millions of people. After the Marimea, the gundam pilots were thought of as heroes and people everywhere took up nicknames in honor of the gundams. He had seen junior high students with names like Wing, and Sandrock on the back of their sports' sweatshirts. Duo had become a favorite of many, and it wouldn't be at all surprising if this "Shinigami" turned out to be some pothead junior high kid. 

            "So Shin my man how's it goin' dude?"

            "Not bad, just callin' in since I'm getting ready for tonight's gig and all," Heero almost fell out of his chair. It was Duo; it had to be Duo. The voice was deeper than he remembered, but it was his all right. And the speech pattern hadn't changed a bit. Heero had been given his extra chance, now he just had to figure out a way to make the best of it. Heero listened intently to the rest of the conversation,

            "Ahh, so any news ya wanna give us on your next single's release date?" Duo chuckled and Heero's heart skipped a beat; he had missed that chuckle,

            "Well the next single off our new album should be released within the next few weeks, I can't remember the official date but I'm sure it on the website. If you want you can all head over to www.wzeromusic.com for tour dates and our cool new merchandise!"

            "Well we'll be plugging your band all day, Shin. Thanks for the call man and I'll be seeing ya tonight!"

            "Always a pleasure Stainger! Come down and see my band Befound tonight everyone!" Duo was in a band? Heero could hardly believe it. But then again it made sense, since Duo had always had a great passion for music. 

            Heero typed in the web link into his browser and looked around. The site was black with white lettering and nicely done graphics. Links for lyrics, biography, tour dates and merchandise were on red guitar picks on the top of the page. Heero was disappointed that there wasn't a link for a picture gallery but decided he'd deal with what he did have. He clicked on biography.

            The page header read "Befound Biography and History" Then under that was the list of the four members and their respective instruments, Duo Maxwell: Bass and lead vocals. Duo on vocals? Heero hadn't ever heard him sing so he could really begin to imagine Duo being lead vocals but who knows. 

            Heero looked over the page and realized that the band had started little over a month from the date of Duo's disappearance. Nowhere in the biography did it mention that Duo had been a former gundam pilot.

            Heero then looked over the rest of the page; he read every lyric and ordered three shirts, he was beginning to become a little obsessive with the whole thing but he didn't care. The last page he went to was the tour dates page. He found out that the band was ending a three month long tour over the US and that one of their last shows was that night in San Diego. Just when Heero had thought he had found him, Duo had to go off and leave again. 

~You're falling out of reach, defying gravity,  
I know you're out there, somewhere out there.~

            Then a thought struck Heero. It would almost be easier to find Duo if he was on tour. Heero could just choose a show and he would be guaranteed to see Duo. It was perfect. 

            He knew he'd have to tie up loose ends at home though. He'd have to talk to his teacher and see if he could get his assignments in advance, let everyone know he'd be gone on vacation, and above all he'd have to figure out which of the last five shows he wanted to go to.

            Heero looked at each date and it's respective city. He spent a half an hour doing calculations and decided that his best bet would be to catch the show in Seattle and some place called the Showbox. The show was a little over three weeks away and was the fifth and final stop on the tour. Heero started making phone calls.

/~_*_~\

            Two weeks passed by at an agonizingly slow pace. Heero had been so pumped up that he had made all the arrangements that night. He had even called Quatre, which was an oddity in itself since Quatre was the one who always called him. 

The first week passed quickly since he decided to go clothes shopping for the trip and made arrangements with the post office concerning his mail. He had booked the plane tickets and made hotel arrangements that night, so he decided to develop a detailed itinerary of his stay. He scoped out the Seattle restaurant scene and made a list of places he wanted to make sure to visit. 

            The second week passed by at the pace of a snail. He had done everything needed and all that was left to do was go through his normal everyday routine. He noticed more than once that he had begun to tap his fingers or shift in his seat while working or during class. Heero was more flustered than he had ever been in his life. He had piloted a mobile suit with complete calm, carried out assassinations, infiltrated a base crawling with Oz personnel, but he didn't even have the patience to wait one week.

            He had waited a year and a half to see Duo and he couldn't wait any longer.

~Hope you remember me, when you're homesick and need a change.  
I miss your purple eyes, I miss the way you taste.~[1]

            The morning of his flight approached and Heero climbed out of bed having not slept at all the night before. He gathered his suitcase and duffle bag, locked his apartment and left out the glass doors in the lobby. He took a taxi to the airport and waited at the terminal for his flight. While sitting there watching the planes take off, Heero began to have doubts. 

~I know you'll come back someday, on a bed of nails awake.  
I'm praying that you don't burn out, or fade away.

All we are is all so far ~ 

            What if Duo didn't feel the same as he had that June day all those months ago? What if he the reason he hadn't contacted Heero was that he was trying to start a new life? What if the Duo Heero met the next day wasn't the same Duo who had been so special to him? What if Heero was making a huge mistake? His foot began to tap unconsciously. 

            'No,' he rebuffed his previous thoughts, 'Duo left it up to me. He left the ball in my court for me to figure out how to make the shot.' 

            The announcement was made that his flight was beginning boarding. He picked up his duffle bag and headed over to the gate. He found his seat a few rows from the back of the plane and put his duffle bag in the overhead compartment before sitting down. The person sitting next to him was a young kid obviously on his way to visit family in the States over the holidays. The kid munched happily on a snack that had been passed out to all of the passengers. 

            Heero smiled as he watched the look of awe on his companion's face from looking out the window at the tarmac below. Heero absently wondered where this kid's parents were and why he was on such a long flight by himself. Heero studied the child's face and estimated the boy to be about 10 years old. He began to remember the things he had done at that kid's age and realized that he shouldn't worry about a kid flying across the Pacific Ocean in a plane full of adults. 

            Heero nodded off a few hours into the flight. After making up for the sleep he had missed the night before he awoke feeling thirsty and noticing that the flight attendants were passing around drinks, hailed one over and asked for a bottle of water. The neatly made up woman smiled at him and handed him a water. He smiled and thanked her.

            Just as he was about to take a large swig of the bottle, the kid next to him spoke up,

            "Um, excuse me sir for asking, but you wouldn't happen to be Mr. Heero Yuy would you?"  Heero smiled around the mouth of the bottle and pulled it from his lips and turned to the boy,

            "Well, yes I am actually," the kid's eyes widened and a look of shock overtook his face. Heero's brain began to analyze this look. Maybe the reason the kid was alone was that he was a war orphan, maybe Heero had killed his parents. He tried to think up an excuse he could use to get himself out of this mess.

            "Wow!" the little boy finally spoke but his shock had been replaced with great joy, 

"I can't believe it's you! My teacher's been teaching us about the gundams since it's the anniversary of the war this month! All my friends'll be real jealous when I tell um all that I met you on my way to Seattle!!" Heero smiled. It wasn't often that he met kids who looked up to him. During the war he had been unwanted, hunted, but now he and his former comrades were heroes to kids. He almost felt unworthy of the worship of this kid.

            "Well, I don't think the gundam pilots can take all the credit. Many people helped me out during the war there are many people who are still fighting to maintain the peace," the little boy scowled a bit,

            "Yah, my teacher says that the person who won the war was Relena Peacecraft, but I don't believe her. How could a girl that just stood around and talked win a war? And all she does now is give big long speeches and pose for pictures with her husband."

            Heero chuckled and ruffled the kid's hair,

            "Yes, that is true, but Relena did help some to win the war," the little boy looked up at Heero from underneath his ruffled bangs.

            "I think you won the war Mr.Yuy. I think that you and Mr. Maxwell were the ones to win the war for all of us."  Heero felt better than he had in a long time knowing that this little boy thought so highly of him. He removed his hand from the little boy's head and leaned back in his seat.

            "It's funny you should mention Mr. Maxwell. I'm actually going on my way to visit him," the little boy's eyes grew wide again and a smile lit up his face,

            "Really? Could you get me his autograph? He's my second favorite gundam pilot!" Heero laughed.

            "I'm sure I can manage it for you. But wait, if he's your second favorite then who's your first?" the little boy laughed,

            "Don't be silly! My favorite pilot is you Mr. Yuy!!" Heero felt like he might cry. He was someone's favorite pilot. He realized at that moment that he didn't know this little boy's name even.

            "Well then, who should I have Mr. Maxwell make the autograph out to then?" the little boy bounced up and down in his seat. A personalized autograph was more than he had asked for!

            "It would be super awesome if you could have him make it out to Thomas Woods! That's me by the way," 

            "I kind of figured that one out. Well here, if you give me your address then I can mail it to you and send you a letter every so often." Heero pulled out a pen and paper from his duffle bag.

            "You would write me letters?!??!" the little boy almost yelled with his excitement, 

            "Of course I would! I couldn't sleep at night knowing that I had no idea how my number one fan was doing!" 

            Heero took down the excited child's address and spent the rest of the flight learning about the kid. Turned out that Thomas was on his way home to Seattle after visiting his relatives in Tokyo. His grandfather owned a dojo on the outskirts of the city and Thomas had gone to watch his cousin perform in a large and prestigious martial arts tournament. 

            The kid finally nodded off to sleep a few hours before their expected arrival in Seattle. Heero had gotten a blanket out from the overhead compartment and covered the kid up. He then pulled out his Discman from his duffle bag and put his new Injected CD in. He needed to get ready for seeing Duo the next day by listening to some good mood music. 

            The next thing Heero knew he was being shaken awake by someone. 

             "Hey Mr. Yuy!! We're here now and they're letting us get off the plane now! Mr. Yuy come on you gotsta wake up so you can go meet up with Mr. Maxwell!"

            Heero's cloudy mind registered two things: we're here, and Mr. Maxwell. He instantly shot awake and smiled at his number one fan. He gathered up his stuff and walked with Thomas off the plane and through the gates. After they had made it into the interior of SeaTac airport, Heero lifted Thomas up and carried him on his shoulders. The little kid began waving his hands and shouting at a group of people who were most likely his family, 

            "Guess who I met on the plane!!!!" he began waving even harder. 

            Heero let the kid down, and the boy then grabbed his hand and pulled him over to his family.

            "Hey Mom and Dad!! This is Mr. Yuy and he sat next to me on the plane ride! He's gonna write letters to me and get me Mr. Maxwell's autograph!!" Thomas jumped up and down excitedly. Heero put his hand out to Thomas father,

            "It's a pleasure to meet the man who raised such a great kid." Thomas's father shook his hand heartily,

            "You wouldn't know what an honor it is to be meeting my son's hero, let alone the man who saved the Earth and its colonies!" Heero blushed, it was one thing for a child to look up to him, but it was entirely different when a man twice his age did the same. 

            Thomas's mother spoke up from her place next to her husband,

            "You have no idea how much it means to Thomas to have met you! I was just wondering if it would be okay if I got picture of the two of you?" Heero smiled at her,

            "On one condition: that you'll send me a copy." The woman smiled and nodded the affirmative as Heero picked Thomas back up and the two of them posed for a picture.

            After promising to try and come visit him, Heero waved goodbye to his young fan and headed down to baggage claim. He waited as bags and parcels went along the metal carousel until his finally came down the chute. He gathered his suitcase and left to catch a shuttle to his hotel. 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Well?? Did I do okay? The next few parts are written so I have some writing time before I'm pushing a deadline! Oh and I went to go see Spirited Away!! That was a totally awesome movie!!! Everyone needs to go see it!! Well lots 'o' love to ya all out there reading this!!

~Kaitou Rinna-chan


	4. I know your out there, somewhere out the...

Yay!! Spring Break!! The last break before summer, which means that it's fourth quarter. Ahh, my favorite quarter! Sun, tanktops and tennis, life can't get any better. Well anyways, thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter. I noticed that a lot of you commented on Duo's intelligence level. I always figured that Duo was really smart and knew his stuff, but he just liked to have fun! So I hope you all enjoy this chapter! 

/~_*_~\

            It was nearly 8 o'clock at night by the time Heero reached the hotel and all he wanted to do was sleep. He unpacked some of his things and set his alarm for seven the next morning. Then he went into the adjoining bathroom and brushed his teeth. As he brushed the foaming mint-flavored toothpaste, he looked at himself in the mirror. He wondered if Thomas saw him as he looked to himself. He pondered this awhile until another question crossed his mind; how did Duo see him? 

            Duo. Heero knew how he saw Duo. Duo was perfect, his purple eyes, chestnut braid, his posture, every physical aspect of Duo was perfect. Heero closed his eyes and thought of Duo. Memories of him flooded his mind. Duo's smile, Duo's laugh, all of it made Heero wish he could see Duo at that moment. 

            Heero had never kissed Duo, or anyone else for that matter. But even so, he missed the taste of Duo. After he came out of the shower, Duo resonated a scent that was so strong that Heero could taste it in his mouth when he breathed in. Duo's unique scent was like the concrete after it rains and like the smell of an early summer morning… 

            Heero snapped out of his reverie and turned off the water that he had left running. He put away his toothbrush and turned out the bathroom light. Climbing into his bed he thought of the day tomorrow would bring. But before he could think too much about it, he fell into a blissful sleep dreaming of amethyst eyes and chestnut locks. 

/~_*_~\

~You're falling back to me, the star that I can't see.  
I know you're out there, somewhere out there.~

            "Good morning, you're listening to Andy Savage, Steve the Producer and Jodie on the Morning End. It's the seven o'clock hour and the high today should be 45 degrees. Call in now if you think you can beat Steve on "Beat the Producer," but keep in mind he's had a three week winning streak…" Heero's hand reached over from under the covers and shut off the radio. He stretched out his muscles as he got out of bed to take a shower. 

            Heero turned the water on and let it warm up before stepping into the cream tiled shower. He stood for a few minuets and let the water run over him. He squeezed some shampoo out of one of the complimentary bottles supplied by the hotel and worked it into a lather in his damp hair. He had to make sure he looked good today for Duo. After thoroughly washing every inch of skin, Heero turned off the shower and toweled off with a big fluffy white towel. He put on some cologne, something he felt the day called for, and went out to get dressed. He pulled out the new jeans he had bought especially for the trip and got out his black Injected t-shirt. He towel dried his brown mess of hair and making sure he had his room key, left through the door and walked down the hall to the elevator. 

            He had a giddy feeling inside just knowing that somewhere in the very same city, Duo was either eating or sleeping. Heero chuckled, because he knew that no matter what he was doing, Duo was talking. He thought of how good it would be to hear Duo talking again.

  
~You're falling out of reach, defying gravity,  
I know you're out there, somewhere out there.~

            That day, Heero spent the day wandering around a place called the University District. There were all sorts of shops and places to eat. He wandered in and out of shops, bookstores, shoes stores, vintage clothing stores and many other odds and ends shops. At one point he wandered into a restaurant that sold smoothies and fruit flavored teas. The walls were a cheery golden rod and scattered around the room were small round tables with stools situated at them. A board on the wall showed all the available smoothies and flavors of tea. They also advertised bubble tea, which Heero recognized as something sold back in Japan. 

            Heero ordered a strawberry smoothie from the all male staff behind the counter. An annoying girl singing was filling the room. Heero glanced over to the direction of the offending noise and noticed that there was a TV showing a music video with a scantily clad girl who couldn't sing at all. Heero was instantly reminded of Relena and tried to block out the annoying girl. He paid for his smoothie and left the odd little shop. 

            After finishing the smoothie while he meandered through city streets, Heero had to admit that it was one of the best strawberry smoothies he had ever had. He stopped at another little store to buy teriyaki, and finding that the restaurant didn't have TVs showing bad music videos decided to stay and eat. 

            After a few more hours of walking around and going through different stores, Heero checked his watch and was surprised to find it was already 4 in the afternoon. He decided to catch a taxi back to his hotel so he could organize things a bit before leaving for the Showbox.

            Duo's concert began at seven, but doors opened at six-thirty. Heero wanted to be there as early as possible so he could manage to get a good spot up front. He was getting all jittery again. He had been fine all day, in fact his mind was completely off Duo, well not completely, but he only thought of him occasionally. But while sitting in that taxi on the way back to his hotel, Heero's stomach was doing flips and his foot was nervously tapping. 

            When he went into the bathroom in his room, Heero avoided the mirror because he thought he might become self-conscience about how he looked and spend three hours trying to fix himself up to perfection then end up missing the concert, and for that matter, missing Duo entirely.

            He flipped on the TV in his room and watched a few mindless cartoons. The next time he checked his watch it was 6, an hour till Duo! Heero jumped up and turned off the TV. Grabbing his hotel key he raced down the hall to the elevators. Deciding the elevator was taking too much time, even though he had only pressed the button 10 seconds previously, Heero ran over to the stairs. He ran down the three flights of stairs, sometimes skipping two or three stairs at a time. When he reached the landing to the lobby, he regained his composure before walking to the front desk. 

            "Is there something I can do for you, Sir?" the receptionist had brunette hair that was done in a bob and smiled warmly at Heero,

            "Yes, I was wondering if you could call me a taxi,"

            "Right away, Sir." She picked up a phone receiver and pressed a few number on the keypad. Heero leaned his back against the high counter.

            "The taxi will be here shortly, Sir, you can go ahead and wait out front for it if you wish."

            "Thank you very much," he gave the young receptionist a charming smile and exited the hotel through its turnstile doors. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The [1] from last chapter was because I changed hair to eyes to make it work better for Duo^_~.

One more part and the song will be finished!! And the best news is that I found a new song for the next part!! Yay! Today I went to see Cowboy Bebop at the Neptune in Seattle. Totally awesome!! My art teacher's last day was on Friday!! Sniffles =,( While everyone else was pumped for spring break I was on the verge of tears, but I got to hang out with him after school for an hour and half. That was pretty kewl. And I dyed my hair red, which looks super awesome!! Too bad no body's gonna see it for a whole week. Well love to all and reviews are greatly appreciated but not mandatory. 

~Kaitou Rinna-chan


	5. I know

Ack!! It's the last part! I had fun writing this one, and hey, since it's my first fic, all I can do is improve right? If you haven't heard Somewhere Out There, go out and download it ya fool!! 

            Sorry that this is so long in coming but the week before I had planned to post it, two major projects were dumped on me! Jeeze I hate school! Passed driver's ed though which is totally kick-ass and now I have a Jeep too!! Life is gonna be good this summer.

            Don't own any of the Gundam Dudes, don't own any of the great songs I've used in this fic, don't own the Showbox or The End radio station and its Kick-ass morning show DJs. With that out of the way, here's the final part!

/~_*_~\

            He arrived at the Showbox at 6:37. He thanked the driver and tipped him. Heero then went up to will call, gave his name and then entered the venue ticket in hand. People were already starting to fill the hall, but there was plenty of space up front. He looked around and noticed a t-shirt stand. He walked over and looked at the t-shirts. Seeing as he would have his own t-shirts waiting for him at home when he returned, Heero knew he didn't need anymore. Then an idea struck him. Thomas would be thrilled to have an autographed t-shirt. Heero picked out a white t-shirt with the Befound logo on it so that the signature would show up well. He paid the punk-goth girl working the stand and went over to find a place to sit down. 

            The place was full by the time seven rolled around. Heero was sipping at the bottled water he had managed to buy from the bar, when suddenly the crowd started cheering. Looking up, Heero's stomach tightened and his breathe caught in his throat. Duo was on stage.

            "Hey everybody! Thanks for coming tonight! First off we want to start with a song off our new CD called "Gundanium Bender," The crowd cheered and the bang began. Heero noticed right off the bat who the band was influenced by and was glad he had worn his Injected shirt. Then Duo began singing.

            The lyrics passed off his tongue like smoke, liquid and flowing. Heero was mesmerized by Duo's voice and concentrated on the way his mouth moved to form the words. The crowd was moshing and head banging in time to the heavy beat. Duo dominated the stage just as he had the battlefield three years ago.

            The intensity of it all could almost be felt and the heavy bass made it hard for Heero to breathe at times. He sipped away at his water and just listened. 

/~_*_~\

            Between every few songs Duo or another member of the band would make a joke or comment to the audience. Each song was different, but at the same time there was something about each one of them that linked it to everyone other song. It was amazing the amount of talent Duo had. Not only did Duo have a fluid singing voice, but he was also an amazingly gifted bassist. 

            As another song ended, Duo took the mike again,

            "Well folks, this next number is our last one. It's a tribute to a great band, and a tribute to someone I lost. This one's called "Faithless," and like a memory that chases you, the same fated song vibrated from the speakers and filled the hall.

~You're falling back to me,  
the star that I can't see.~

            Pure energy replaced the air in the room as Duo sang Heero's favorite song. The crowd moved more with a fluid motion than they had before, and Duo's words were only enhanced by it. Heero was drunk off it all and he sat there memorizing every movement made by his once braided-baka of a comrade.

~I know you're out there, oh.  
You're falling out of reach,

defying gravity....~

            As the last few cords rang from the speakers, Duo jumped out into the outstretched arms of his fans. He surfed along on the sea of hands until he was pushed back on stage. He waved his arms and the band left the stage.

~I know you're out there,  
somewhere out there.~

            Heero had to find him now. He needed to see him more than ever. Confidence had replaced his jitters and it was as if he had reverted back to solider mode. His mind switched into autopilot. Somewhere in the back of it he remembered that the band hung out at the t-shirt stand after the show.

            Heero's feet moved on their own. His mind was clear except for the mission of finding Duo and saying what he should have that day in June. He began to formulate the words he was going to say, telling Duo how he had figured out a year too late that he had feelings for him, that he wanted to be close to Duo, be more than a best friend to him. 

            A chestnut braid was lying on a stack of t-shirts as its owner signed a CD case with a black sharpie. Duo smiled at the female fan as he handed the giggling girl back her CD. She jumped across the table to throw her arms around his neck. He laughed and hugged her back. She then ran back over to her excited friends. Heero was vaguely reminded of Thomas while watching her.

~You're falling back to me.  
Well I know,  
I know.  
You're falling out of reach.~

            Heero approached the t-shirt stand and handed the t-shirt to Duo, who was looking down at the time,

            "Anyone you'd like me to make it out to?" Heero smiled, Duo's voice was like honey,

            "Thomas Woods." 

            As Duo began to look up, Heero made contact with ultraviolet.

            "Heero?" Duo's voice was a whisper in the noise of the room.

            "Sorry, you told me not to worry, but I couldn't help it. Maybe I was wrong, maybe you do need my constant supervision."

_~I know...~_

Sniff, it's all over! Well at least the part with Somewhere Out There. Now it's on to a Hot Rod Circuit  and Duo's story! It's gonna be good! Palm trees and punk rock bands a plenty. It's going to be along one and may take a few sittings. See you all then!

~Kaitou Rinna-chan


	6. Let you slip through my fingers

YAY!! It's summer! I love summer so much!!! But it hasn't been warm enough over here so I'm a little bummbed out. That and added to the fact that my love life is very depressingly non-existent. But it's okay cause none of you care about that stuff, just me getting this out to ya all! I don't own "Consumed by Laziness" by Hot Rod Circuit. Nor do I own any of the Gundam Boys. Although I do wish that I could call a certain guy with electric blue eyes and a rockin mohawk my own, but that's beside the point. 

/~_*_~\

Duo stared at Heero in disbelief, then slowly his face lit up with a grin,

            "Thomas Woods, huh? Change your name, or getting it signed for your boyfriend?"

            "Nope, it's a gift for my number one fan," at this Duo cocked an eyebrow,

            "So there's an Official Heero Yuy fan club now? Geeze, send me a membership form will ya?"

            "I'll put in an request for you." Duo studied Heero for a moment, then shook his head and signed the shirt.

            "Thanks, you don't know how happy you've just made a 10 year old kid," Heero smiled at Duo and thought of how happy Thomas was going to be when he found out that Duo had personalized the shirt for him. Then one of Duo's fellow band members yelled something at him, which Heero didn't catch. Duo waved back at the guy and turned back to Heero,

            "Sorry, I gotta go over and help my buds, but if you're gonna be in town for awhile then we should absolutely get together. Where are you staying?"

            "The Weston," Duo's eyes widened and he let out a low whistle,

            "Dude, that's a pretty slick place!"

            "Really? I hadn't noticed," Heero smiled smugly,

            "Wait, did you just make a joke? What happened to you since the last time I talked to you?"

            Heero thought to himself 'I realized I was in love with you,' but said,

            "Lots of stuff," then he paused for a moment, "Weren't you supposed to go help with something?"  Duo smacked himself in the forehead,

            "Yah, I was. It's just seeing you after all this time, it all kind of sidetracked me. But I will SO be calling you later man!" with a wave he was off on a quick jog to meet up with the rest of his band. 

            Heero for his part had maintained his cool through the entire conversation, but now that he had finally seen Duo, the butterflies returned and his legs went weak lamenting over how short their reunion had been.

            With nothing else to do, Heero folded up the shirt and left the Showbox in search of a pay phone so he could call a cab. As he walked out of the warehouse, he noticed how late it really was. The moon was bright on the cold December night, and the dark sky added to the chill in the cool air. He absently wondered if it was snowing back home.

/~_*_~\

            The elevator doors opened into the fifth floor's main corridor and the young man with cobalt eyes stepped out onto the flower patterned carpet. Making his way down the hallway to his room, Heero realized that the ball was in Duo's court now. The possibility of the impossible happening was very likely when the braided baka had control.

            Heero had been wired like a telephone pole back at the venue, but now as his adrenaline dissipated, all he wanted was a pillow under his head. As he entered the black hotel room he absently threw his jacket on a chair and set the folded shirt on the nightstand, unbuttoned his pants and fell into the haven of his bed. He didn't have to do anymore planning; Duo would handle it all from here.

/~_*_~\

            Duo clicked his bass case shut and set it in the back seat of his jeep. He yelled his last goodbyes to his band mates and the band's rowdy group of roadies, confirmed their plans for Christmas and drove off to his Ballard apartment. It was good that they had finished up the tour back in their hometown three days before Christmas so they wouldn't be away from their families in a hotel room somewhere. But Duo couldn't escape one thing that had been unexpected. 

Heero Yuy had found him. Duo had planned exactly what he would say to him when they met up again, but all that planning fell through in real life. In all honesty though, Duo had given up on Heero right after he hung up the phone a year and a half ago.

~I let you slip through my fingers~

            He had been tired of keeping it all pent up. His unrequited love for his fellow pilot was starting to affect his health. He couldn't sleep or concentrate on anything just knowing that Heero Yuy was out there and that he, Duo, wasn't there with him. He began to formulate a plan in his head as he filled out paperwork in the yard he and Hilde managed. He would lay it all out without actually saying those three little words. If Heero understood, then maybe it would work out between them. And if he didn't understand, Duo knew he was going to have to start an entirely new life for himself. 

            It was a lazy June Monday when Duo made the call that would change his life. He dialed up the number of Heero's laptop and leaned back in his computer chair waiting for him to pick up. As always, Duo was greeted with the pleasant sight of Heero Yuy glaring at him. For his part, Duo felt that he had made a very pleading case to Heero, he had laid it all out there and been rejected. But could he really call it a rejection? Heero Yuy knew nothing of feelings and compassion, so he most likely had no idea what Duo was talking about.    

~Don't even know if I can remember how I got here in the first place~

            How was it that he had fallen for Heero in the first place? Duo couldn't pinpoint an exact time or incident, but suddenly one day he was standing in front of his bathroom mirror and suddenly realized that he was in love with his fellow pilot. Suddenly things had become a little more difficult.

/~_*_~\

            After hanging up with Heero, Duo began planning his new life. He had to get out of the colonies, there were too many things that would remind him that he could never have Heero. That left only one place where he could escape it all: Earth.

            He snuck out of the office and yelled into Hilde that he was taking his lunch break. As she looked up from her paperwork, she smiled at him and told him to take as long as he needed since she knew he had been under a lot of stress lately. He smiled back and took a mental snap shot of her face knowing that it would be a long time before he saw her again.

            Once arriving home at his L2 apartment, he packed only the most important things into a duffle bag and headed out for the spaceport. He ran possibilities through his head as he walked down the colony streets. Definitely not Japan, since Heero was already living there, Europe was out of the question as well, Antarctica was too cold and uninhabited, and Australia for some reason had no appeal to him. 

~My mind wanders off it's somewhere out in space~

Duo caught the 1:15 shuttle to San Diego, California, United States and thus began his new life. Sitting in his seat looking out at the stars and universe, he realized that he would be losing contact with everyone from his past. Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, Howard, Hilde, all of them would remind him of the war, and subsequently he would be reminded of Heero. If he was going to move on in his life, he knew he would have to break all ties with his past.

During his flight, Duo used his laptop to apartment hunt. He searched realestate and finally found a bungalow on the beach. It was listed as a "fixer-up summer house" which intrigued Duo. He needed something constructive to occupy his time after all. He transferred funds and was the proud owner of a seaside bungalow by the time he made it off the shuttle. 

Duo had never been to Southern California and wondered as he stepped out onto the palm tree lined streets why he hadn't come sooner. The air was thick with heat and fragrance from the tropical flowers and Duo stripped off his black long sleeve shirt. Folding the shirt up, Duo realized that for his new life he would have to acquire a new wardrobe. 

/~_*_~\

            The next few weeks, Duo spent adapting to his new California lifestyle. The "fixing" of the bungalow turned out to be a simple matter of repairing the roof and took Duo only two days to accomplish. His black attire was soon replaced with pooka shells and surfer gear. Finding that he needed a way to get around, Duo went out and bought an 87' Wrangler equipped with off road shocks and F-C Kevlar tires perfect for strolling sand dunes. He was living the life the war had taken away from him. 

~Laziness it consumes you~

            During the time he wasn't surfing or listening to music, Duo lazed about in the shade of the palm trees. He would spend hours laying in the white sand in the sun, making sand angels and tanning his skin to a deep bronze. If any of the other pilots had seen him at that moment, they would not have recognized him. This was exactly what Duo wanted.

            He had started hanging out with other people his age, surfing, dune hopping in his Jeep, playing video games and going to parties. Everyone he met was won over by his cheerfulness and sense of humor. It amazed Duo that none of them ever asked if he was the gundam pilot of Deathsythe since it was common knowledge that pilot 02 was named Duo Maxwell and had a long braid.  He came to understand that all of these young adults were unaffected by the war, too young to participate in it and too old for it to be taught to them in history class. 

            ~There's nothing you can say, there's nothing you can do~   

            One sweltering night in August as Duo was sipping a Corona[1] listening to a local ska band, he was approached by someone he had never met. Noticing this stranger wasn't tan, he guessed that he was on vacation from somewhere up North. The guy tapped Duo on the shoulder,

            "Hey a friend of mine told me you were an awesome bass player and I was wondering if you would play the next set with my band. Our bassist split on us this afternoon and we couldn't find a replacement." It was true, Duo was good at the bass, something he had picked up after the war and had continued during the warm nights since moving to California. Duo considered, then smiled at the guy,

            "Sure! That would be pretty slick, but I hope ya have an extra bass I can borrow since I left mine at home with the palm trees."

            "Sure thing! Geeze, you have no idea what a lifesaver you are right now! By the way, name's Daven Brenton," he offered out his hand,

            "Duo Maxwell," he shook Daven's hand and followed him over to the rest of the band. The other two members, Josh Russell one of the guitarist, and Mike Prestner the drummer, were sitting near the stage. After introductions, Josh pulled a red bass out of the back of the band's van and handed it to Duo. Daven scratched down the cords to the songs they were going to play on a napkin and asked Duo if he could handle them. Having played most of the songs before at some point, Duo said that he could and spent the next few minutes practicing on the bass.

            After the ska band's set ended, Duo followed the other three up onto the makeshift stage. He adjusted the bass strap and nodded over at Josh who was also the lead vocalist. Josh leaned in towards the microphone and began the set,

            "Hey, it's good to see everyone having such a fun time, but by the looks of it, most of you'll be too smashed by the morning to remember much of what all happened tonight," this comment drew laughs and cheers from the crowd. Josh strummed a few chords on his guitar and started speaking again,

            "Well, we're Befound, and I just wanted you all to know that our scum-assed bass player Chris Kolleton bailed on us so you all are fortunate enough to hear our replacement Duo Maxwell. Well here it goes with a song that fits this area, "Surf Wax America."

            Duo was a little shaky at first, but he fell into step and started to feel comfortable up on stage. He felt a connection to the other three, something he hadn't felt since his days hanging out with Quatre, Wufei, Trowa and of course Heero. All of them were extremely talented and added their own flare to the covers they performed. Mike threw in drum solos and Josh was able to sing each song as if he were the true artist. To say the least, Duo was very impressed. 

            As he was helping stash the equipment back in Mike's van, Daven came up to him again. He was scratching the back of his head as he began to speak,

            "Say Duo, I know this is really sudden and all, but me and the guys had a talk back there and I was wondering if you would consider becoming our bassist. Permanently."

            Deep down, Duo had been hoping they'd ask him. Life had been good for him lately, but he missed the teamwork aspect, which had once been a large part of his life. Being up on that stage, standing next to those three, Duo felt like he belonged and began to crave being on stage with them again. He grinned and reached out an arm to give Daven a good thwack on the back,

            "Thought you'd never ask! So, what happens now?" Daven laughed a little and turned to him,

            "Well, since we're only down here on vacation for Mike's sister's wedding, I guess we'll jockey around your situation and head back up to Seattle,"

            "Seattle huh?" Duo's eyebrows rose a bit. Seattle, birthplace of grunge, Starbucks central and one of the only places that called an umbrella a bumpershoot. Plus it rained there a lot. But then he began to think about it. Rain was something he hadn't experienced much of. L2 hadn't been much on rain, and California wasn't either for that matter. A little rain might be what he needed.

/~_*_~\

~Simply put I'm letting go, I've got my money on the wrong hand this time~

            And so, Duo Maxwell began another new life. He moved his possessions from his beachside bungalow into the back of his black Jeep. He had decided to rent out the bungalow, maybe bring in some cash to help out the band. From what he had gathered from Daven, Befound had a small following in Seattle, but still didn't have the funds to cut a record.

            For the next three days, Duo followed Mike's van up the Pacific coast. McDonalds as well as other fast-food joints had their economies boosted minutely and Gas station mini-marts became grocery stores. At night, they would pull their van and Duo's jeep into an empty parking lot and sleep under the stars in the warmth of summer nights. Daven, Mike and Josh would rotate sitting in Duo's jeep with him. They each told him stories of their band's exploits and growing up on the Eastside of Lake Washington. Along the way, the group stopped off in Astoria, Oregon, took a look out at Mount Saint Helen's, after which they picked up a burger at Tiny's in the Nisqually Valley, and finally took a small tour of Olympia and the Capitol building. 

             Seattle was an amazing city. They reached it at almost midnight, pulling 70 on I-5 with the breeze whipping. The lights of the city shown brightly as Duo and Daven, who was in the jeep with him at that time, drove to the guys' apartment in Ballard. Duo felt like something he had been missing fell into place.

Well anyways, the next chapter is mostly written. Hopefully I'll be more inspired to write. It's amazing how much time you waste trying to make plans but never really act on those plans. Oh well story of my life. Next part is coming soon and I need another song!! Good rawk songs that you think might work with the story line. Well till I post again, Later dayz!

~Kaitou Rinna-chan


	7. I don't even know if I can remember how ...

Alright, here it goes. I apologize to all who waited in anticipation for this chapter to come, this story to finish. I cannot say it is because the plot became overwhelming, or that something tragic happened in my life. All I can say is that one day, sitting at my computer, something didn't feel right to me anymore. So I moved on and away from it. All that changed tonight however, for reasons I'm not sure of at the moment.

So what has happened since my last post over a year ago? My life has happened. My once coveted permit has become a full-fledged license; the boy with the mohawk is no longer a part of my life, having been replaced by other boys who left with similar let downs.

In a so far lonesome summer, I came across this chapter, finished in full yet never posted. Hopefully this is the kickstart I need to push me to finish this story. Yet this story has changed so much in my mind during that time, it's like reading someone else's work. I have no idea where this plot is headed, but the endpoint in my mind is clear. Thank you again to all who have read this story at one point or another. Especially to

Chain-Shinigami, whose multiple reviews made me smile tonight and pushed me into posting this.

Befound's popularity grew, most likely because Duo fit in like a missing jigsaw piece. They played shows every weekend, one night at the Firehouse, the next at the Graceland. Life seemed good and going better than it ever had before.

Coast to coast, been avoiding all your phone calls, trying to figure out how I fucked it up this time

Trouble began when they started touring in late August. The first morning, Duo awoke with a strange feeling that something was wrong. He entered into the small sitting area of their hotel room and saw a scene like one he had seen everyday for at least a month now. Daven was standing drinking a cup of coffee, Mike had his headphones on and was drumming absent mindedly with his sticks and Josh was strumming lightly on his guitar while singing under his breath. Suddenly Duo felt out of place. He didn't belong here; he belonged back with people who understood the shit he had been through. Duo blew up; he began yelling and cursing at them. Suddenly he was angry at the fact that they weren't gundam pilots. He was angry that they had no idea what he had been through, but most importantly, he was mad at himself for never telling them anything.

They just stared at him and listened as he yelled out everything about his past, everything he had been through, yelled out his frustration about Heero, and yelled about how he had been a coward to leave his old life behind. After he was done, great heaving breaths wracked his body as he stood glaring at them. Daven set down his coffee and the paper he had been reading and slowly approached him.

"Duo, we never knew," he shook his head a little before continuing, "but now that we do, we'll try to help you through this. You're not a coward; you were trying to find out where you fit in besides being a gundam pilot. If you had never done that, we'd be stuck somewhere in Seattle looking for a bass player rather than starting a cross-country tour."

Duo calmed down. He wasn't mad at them, he was mad about leaving his life behind. He had treated the time he had spent as a gundam pilot like a math test you throw out at the end of the quarter. But now, he realized that he couldn't pick that paper back out of the wastebasket and try to smooth out the wrinkles; he could never go back to how it used to be. All he could do now was live the life he was living and let things fall into place as they may. He smiled weakly at Daven and the others,

"Sorry. I wasn't mad at you guys; I think I just needed to get that out. You all have been so open about everything to me; I suppose I felt guilty that even though you knew nothing about my past you still accepted me anyway."

Without a penny in my pocket, there's nothing I can say, there's nothing I can do

The tour went better than expected. They played to sold out clubs in towns where there had been no way their name had spread to previously. It was never spoken aloud by anyone in the band, but each and every one of them attributed the success to the fact that Duo felt that he belonged entirely after his rant the first morning of the tour. He was able to confide in each of them about his problems. They listened and tried the best they could to help him out when he was feeling down, which was enough for Duo.

/

In mid-September they returned to Seattle and with the proceeds were able to cut their first record. They produced it themselves in a small studio in the University district they had rented out. Daven's girlfriend Lisia did the cover artwork and Mike's girlfriend Dee took photos of the band. For their first endeavor, they put out a surprisingly high-quality job. Befound had their first record.

Bright eyes, I'm holding you close but you seem so far

On the day Lisia was doing lettering styles for the band's handle, Duo asked a question he had never thought of until that moment,

"What does Befound mean anyway?" Daven looked at him. He and Duo had gone over to Lisia's studio in Georgetown to hang out and check out her artwork. He thought for a moment and then answered,

"Well it's kind of a take off of profound. It's something you never realized was there until suddenly you just did. It's a discovery you make with out looking for one, it's one you just kind of 'found'." Duo smiled a little before replying,

"Nice."

Befound, that's what his love for Heero had been. He hadn't been looking for it, it just happened one day. He still loved Heero, and it didn't hurt so much that Heero didn't love him back, what hurt was that Heero was incapable of loving anyone. Duo knew it wasn't Heero's fault, and in a way, that made it hurt even worse.

Heero always seemed stoic; inside and out. The only thing that gave Duo any hope at all were those cerulean orbs. They held no emotion on the surface, but Duo could see a brightness about them that suggested a depth to Heero's soul. Back then, he tried to divulge the secrets of those depths. He would chatter on endlessly in order to gain Heero's attention. This wasn't how Duo had wanted it to be like, but he had no idea how to approach Heero. Whenever he opened his mouth to say something of intelligence, a spew of silly chatter would suddenly replace the comment almost off his tongue.

/

Befound was Daven's brainchild. He brought together the four original members and had be the driving force behind recruiting Duo. Daven wrote all of Befound's songs and the lyrics. Simply put, Befound was Daven's. Lisia told Duo once about how Daven had been the lead singer back when the band first started out. Josh had taken over the vocal lead when Befound had changed sounds.

After their summer tour, Daven began to push Duo more and more into involvement with the band. The double D's, as the their friends and following began to call them, wrote songs that took on a different twist once again. Befound slowly transitioned from their Emo sound comparable to Weezer, to a darker, deep sound much like that of Injected or Fall Out Boy. This may have been due to the fact that Duo was heavily into the use of language and music both bands and used.

The band on a whole had been waiting for the change. They wanted something deeper than they weren't getting from the upbeat they had been playing before. Josh willingly resigned his position of lead singer and went back to being the lead guitarist happily. This change over was the reason Duo Maxwell became the lead singer.

It all happened one night when Duo was working with some lyrics on his balcony. He sang to himself as he finished each line and after a short period lost track of time and forgot the fact that he had invited the band over that evening. When the guys had walked into his apartment, they saw him through the open glass door and more than that, they heard him through the aperture. By the time of their next show, Befound was an entirely new band.

Duo's voice was deep and sensual. He conveyed darkness and the unknown. The words slurred off his tongue like smoke. A new crowd began to follow Befound. Gothic girls with dark clothes and pale faces came to watch Duo. Duo found an outlet in the music. He could be as angry as he wanted up on that stage. He could yell out lyrics and be angry at the world and then be as happy as could be after the show. When he sang slower more sensual songs, he imagined Heero in the audience. Heero, watching only Duo, he would finally understand what Duo had meant that summer day almost a year ago. Duo knew, however, that he might never see Heero again.

/

Now, after not thinking of Heero for over six months, Duo suddenly found himself caught up once more with the other pilot. How could Heero have found him now? Duo had done a supreme hacking job to cover his tracks and change his history while still maintaining his name. Duo wondered if Heero had known where he was the entire time and suddenly out of the blue decided to blow into his life like an unexpected cold front. Whatever the case may be, the Heero Yuy that came up to him tonight was not the Heero Yuy he had talked to that day in June.

More than trying to figure out what had changed about Heero, it seemed easier to try to figure out what hadn't. His physical features were the same, yet they were more mature and his general expression had relaxed. His voice was the same pitch, but it had lost most of its monotone. Long gone were the traditional green tanktop and spandex shorts; they were replaced by an Injected t-shirt and baggy jeans. There were only two things Duo had found had stayed the same: Heero's hair and his eyes. Mussy bangs accompanied by that deep brown had not changed at all and still partially concealed deep blue eyes that still had that same stare.

Duo ran one hand through his bangs as he steered through the dark streets of Seattle. He had told Heero he would call him. How was he supposed to talk to someone he had given up his life to get away from? He desperately wanted to be able to talk to Heero earlier that night, but with the sudden shock of it all, he readily ran over to help out his band mates.

Why should I try? I know it'll never get that far, I know it'll never get that…

Duo was frazzled the rest of his drive home. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, messed with the radio, mussed up his bangs, and muttered to himself. Absently he checked his watch and found that it was almost midnight.

"Man the night is still young… too bad the guys all had too get home to their girlfriends. As if Lisia and Dee weren't giving off enough estrogen, man now there's Viv in the mix. Well they are a pretty cool bunch of chicks so I don't mind it too much," Duo mumbled to himself as he pulled into his driveway. He still was pissed that Josh, his once favorite drinking buddy had Viv move in with him after meeting her at Lisia's first showing in one of the art galleries on the Eastside. No more were their late night after parties; even though Duo was still under age he managed to score some booze if he wanted, more often than not he didn't but he liked to watch Josh get smashed and hit on any girl within ten feet.

But it wasn't so much that he had lost a drinking partner, it was that he was the only single one left. Most of the time they all got together in a group situation and it wasn't as if suddenly Duo was excluded from the rest of group because he was single. In fact the atmosphere in the group never changed, it was Duo's perception that changed.

Maybe it was also the fact that Duo could never find anyone he was interested in. He wasn't sure if it was because he was still stuck on Heero so bad or if it was just that there was no one who was his type where he had been looking. But that was another problem, he really didn't know what "his type" was. Heero was his type, but Heero was an individual, not a set of parameters. This bit of information was divulged while Duo was having a conversation with Dee.

Dee stood over the counter in the apartment she and Mike shared and sighed when Duo came back from a club once more not finding anyone. She laid her cheek on the counter top and looked up at Duo,

"Man! You must be really picky!!" Duo just shrugged and drank a sip from his Fuze Lemon Ice Tea.

"Seriously! I mean what are your preferences even? Which way do you lean and what are you looking for??" She stretched her arm out and hit him lightly on the shoulder. It was then that Duo realized his problem,

"I don't think I have any preferences. I don't lean either way and I have no idea what I'm looking for. Basically I'm aimlessly looking for a replacement for a person that I lost a year ago," he swished the juice in it's glass bottle and looked over at her.

"Oh Duo," she sighed and moved over to the other side of the counter, "You need to find yourself before you can find anyone else. This Heero guy has robbed you of your abilities to be attracted to anyone, of either gender for that matter. Your still mixed up, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to un-mix you and make you happy!" she threw her arms around Duo and gave him a huge hug.

Maybe all that would change now. Maybe he wouldn't be the lone wolf, hanging around without anyone to kiss under the mistletoe this year. But who knew really. Duo had finally really become happy with his situation. He realized he didn't need anyone to make him happy, he could do it just fine himself. But did that mean he didn't need Heero anymore? Duo wasn't sure, and he felt like he needed to find out fast.

Without even realizing it, Duo had picked up the phone and was dialing the operator. In a few seconds he was connected to the front desk at the Weston. After another few minutes, the line was connected to the room of one Heero Yuy. As the phone began to ring it finally sunk in what Duo was doing. But before he could hit the end button on his cordless, a gruff voice heavy with sleep answered,

"Hello?" now Duo felt like a real bastard, he woke him up for gawd sakes!

"Um, yeah, hiya Heero, how's it going bud?" he managed to babble out, still not quite sure why he had called.

"Duo? I wasn't expecting you to call tonight so I went to bed right after I got back from the show,"

"Yeah, well I wasn't really expecting to myself, but it just kind of ended up that way. Sorry for waking you up and all but I didn't get much of a chance to talk to ya earlier,"

"Well if you give me a few minutes, I could meet you down in the lobby and we could hang out here and catch up on things," Duo was wondering if this was what he had been anticipating and figured it was better than nothing,

"Sure, but it might be more like a half an hour or so since I need to get cleaned up a little. Man you wouldn't believe how much you sweat being up on stage!" 'smooth Maxwell, gross him out by telling him how smelly you are, jeeze…' Duo mentally punched himself, but to his surprise Heero laughed and replied,

"I can only imagine, but I'm sure you would have been even worse off if you had still been in your old black attire from back in the days. So I guess I'll meet you down in the main lobby in a half an hour or so,"

"Yeah, I'll be there! See ya in a few bud!" and Duo pressed the little green button marked 'END' as he ran into his bathroom to clean himself up.


End file.
